Team Blitz India
LONDON: Amid rising concerns over immigration ahead of crucial elections early next year, political debate has spurred with annual net migration to the United Kingdom hitting a record 745,000 last year.
For over a decade now, the levels of legal migration have been a burning issue in the UK. It is expected to dominate the agenda in the upcoming elections.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revised net migration figures to 745,000 for the year ending December 2022. This is a new record high and above 139,000 on its previous estimate. It also said the net migration number for the year ending June 2023 was 672,000, climbing from 607,000 the previous year.
‘Stop the boat’ policy
The figures released on November 23 are likely to increase the pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, whose flagship policy was to tackle rising immigration. Sunak has pledged to tackle illegal immigration with his “stop the boats” policy.
The term is a reference to aliens taking small boats in a bid to cross the English Channel. He has stated that he is determined to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda despite the Supreme Court upholding the judgment of the Court of Appeal.
According to the ONS data, most immigrants were now from non-EU nations with a majority of them coming to study. It was found that in recent years, more students are staying for longer and moving on to work visas.
Non-EU nationalities
The top three non-EU nationalities for immigration in the year to June were Indian, Nigerian and Chinese, it said. New Government restrictions to student visa routes were aimed to cut net migration by restricting the ability for international students to bring family members on all but postgraduate research routes and banning people from using a student visa as a backdoor route to work in the UK.
However, there was an increase in migrants coming for work, particularly to fill shortages in the health and social care sectors.
There has also been a rise in refugees with conflict rising in the Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
